Browns' Joe Flacco seems to respond to Kenny Pickett ahead of competition for starting job

Recently acquired Cleveland Browns quarterback Kenny Pickett generated some headlines when he said this past weekend that he intends to begin September as the club's starter over fan-favorite Joe Flacco and an undetermined rookie. 

During a Wednesday appearance on ESPN Cleveland, Flacco seemed to offer a response to Pickett's bold words. 

"I don't think there's any expectation of exactly who's going to be the starting quarterback," Flacco said, as shared by Tony Grossi of The Land on Demand and Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio. "So, you know, I’m excited to get in that room and go show that I have a lot of football ahead of me and kind of become part of the team and do my best to prove all those things. Just like you always would when you kind of come into a new situation and wanna be the guy."

For a piece published Thursday morning, ESPN's Jordan Raanan noted that it "is becoming increasingly likely" that the Browns will select Colorado cornerback/wide receiver Travis Hunter over Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders with the second pick of the 2025 NFL Draft. That said, Cleveland could either trade back into the first round for a signal-caller such as Ole Miss' Jaxson Dart or look to land a project (Alabama's Jalen Milroe, Louisville's Tyler Shough) early in the second round. 

The fact that Flacco played poorly across a pair of starts with the Indianapolis Colts this past fall could lead one to assume he'll mostly serve as a mentor for Pickett, 26, and for a first-year pro who could sit through the 2025 season. Flacco indicated he wants to handle such duties as a QB1 for as long as possible. 

"If you want to be a good mentor, or even if you don't, I think just competing and doing your best and doing it the way that you know to be the right way … even if it’s your secondary goal, I think that’s the best way for people to learn," Flacco added during his comments. "I'm going into my 18th year and I still have things to learn, whether it's about myself or how the game is being played. So I don't think being a mentor has ever been like my main goal, but I do think that competition and that quarterback room in general kind of breeds the environment to learn and to become the best version of yourself."

The last time Flacco was atop Cleveland's depth chart, he went 4-1 to guide the 2023 Browns to a playoff berth en route to becoming a local cult hero and the Associated Press NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award winner for that season. If he can again turn the clock back for a handful of months playing under head coach Kevin Stefanski, he could keep Pickett a backup for as long as Cleveland is in the postseason hunt.